List of surviving Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses

B-17G 44-83514
Sentimental Journey
Commemorative Air Force

B-17G, Virgin's Delight, Castle Air Museum

B-17D 40-3097
Ole Betsy/The Swoose under restoration

B-17G 44-83735
Mary Alice is part of the American Air Museum collection at the Imperial War Museum Duxford

B-17G 44-83684
Picadily Lilly II
Planes of Fame Museum

B-17G 44-83575
Nine-O-Nine
Collings Foundation

B-17G 44-83785
Shady Lady
Evergreen Aviation Museum

B-17G 44-85740
Aluminum Overcast
Centennial Airport, CO, 2007

Sally B is one of only two airworthy B-17 in Europe. (Seen here in 1985)

B-17G 44-85718
Thunderbird
Lone Star Flight Museum

B-17F 41-24485
Memphis Belle
USAF Museum

The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engine heavy bomber aircraft primarily employed by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) during World War II. Developed by Boeing, a total of 12,731 aircraft had been produced by Boeing, Douglas and Lockheed from 1936 until 1945. Over 8,000 were lost in either combat operations or training accidents. The remaining combat veterans and early production models were stored and later scrapped in the vast scrap drives of the late 1940s, many going to aircraft boneyards like Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona, the largest of its kind within the United States' borders.

The majority of the aircraft that survive today came from the last batches of aircraft produced by both Douglas and Lockheed, which had better corrosion control practices. These aircraft had found use in the 1950s and early 1960s as DB-17 Drone Director and QB-17 target aircraft with the USAF, as U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard early warning, air sea rescue or weather aircraft (known by the naval aircraft designations PB-1W or PB-1G), or overseas as photo mapping aircraft with French National Geographic Institute. After retirement from active service, these aircraft were converted during the 1960s to the late 1980s as bulk cargo transport, aerial sprayer, and water tanker aircraft.

During the late 1970s when the warbird movement began, these survivors were eagerly anticipated and as each came on the civilian market many were restored to original combat configuration. In the 1990s, as intact, existing airframes became increasingly rare (only 46 intact B-17s are known to exist as of August 2013), restorers began seeking out airframes that were previously considered unrecoverable.

Brazil

On display

B-17G

• 44-85583 – Recife Air Force Base.^[1]

Under restoration or in storage

B-17G

• 44-83718 – in storage at the Museu da FAB in Rio de Janeiro.^[2]

Croatia

Wrecks

B-17G

• 44-6630 – ditched off coast of Vis 6 November 1944. 43°00′47″N 16°12′40″E / 43.013095°N 16.211020°E / 43.013095; 16.211020

France

Airworthy

B-17G

• 44-8846 The Pink Lady – Forteresse Toujours Volante in Paris.^[3]

Under restoration or in storage

B-17G

• 44-8889 – in storage at the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace in Paris.^[4]

Wrecks

B-17G

• 42-31044 Her Did – ditched off coast of Corsica 14 February 1944. 42°34′19″N 8°45′46″E / 42.572058°N 8.762800°E / 42.572058; 8.762800

Italy

B-17F

• 41-24371 Devils from Hell – crash landed off coast of Palermo 18 April 1943. 38°09′38″N 13°26′12″E / 38.160690°N 13.436701°E / 38.160690; 13.436701 (approx.)

Papua New Guinea

Wrecks

B-17E

• 41-9234 – crash landed on side of mountain near Wau 8 January 1943 after attack on convey in Huon Gulf. Popularly known as "Gray Ghost." After retrieval of Swamp Ghost, this became the only remaining wreck on land. 7°16′58″S 146°49′03″E / 7.282761°S 146.817550°E / -7.282761; 146.817550 (approx.)

Solomon Islands

Wrecks

B-17

• 41-24521 Black Jack/The Joker's Wild – ditched near Aruliho during storm 11 July 1943. Discovered in 1986. 9°16′26″S 159°46′31″E / 9.273986°S 159.775272°E / -9.273986; 159.775272

United Kingdom

Airworthy

B-17G

• 44-85784 (registration G-BEDF) Sally B – B-17 Preservation Group, based at the Imperial War Museum Duxford in Cambridgeshire and painted as 41-24485 (124485).^[5][6]

On display

B-17G

• 44-83735 Mary Alice – American Air Museum at IWM Duxford. (Aircraft is currently undergoing a 16-month conservation effort at the Imperial War Museum – Duxford.)^[7]
• 44-83868 – Royal Air Force Museum London in Hendon.^[8]

United States

Airworthy

B-17G

• 44-8543 Madras Maiden (Formerly Chuckie) – The Liberty Foundation in Claremore, Oklahoma. It is on loan from the Erickson Aircraft Collection in Madras, Oregon.^[9][10]
• 44-83514 Sentimental Journey – Commemorative Air Force (Airbase Arizona) in Mesa, Arizona.^[11][12]
• 44-83546 Memphis Belle (this is the movie stand-in) – National Warplane Museum in Geneseo, New York. It is on loan from the Military Aircraft Restoration Corp. in Anaheim, California.^[13][14]
• 44-83563 Fuddy Duddy – Lyon Air Museum in Santa Ana, California.^[15][16]
• 44-83575 Nine-O-Nine – Collings Foundation in Stow, Massachusetts.^[17][18]
• 44-83872 Texas Raiders – Commemorative Air Force (Gulf Coast Wing) in Houston, Texas.^[19][20]
• 44-85718 Thunderbird – Lone Star Flight Museum in Galveston, Texas.^[21][22]
• 44-85740 Aluminum Overcast – Experimental Aircraft Association in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.^[23][24]
• 44-85829 Yankee Lady – Yankee Air Force in Belleville, Michigan.^[25][26]

On display

B-17E

• 41-9032 My Gal Sal – National World War II Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana.^[27]

B-17F

• 42-29782 Boeing Bee – Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington.^[28][29]
• 42-3374 Homesick Angel – Offutt AFB, Nebraska.^[30]

B-17G

• 42-32076 Shoo Shoo Baby – National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio.^[31]
• 43-38635 Virgin's Delight – Castle Air Museum at the former Castle AFB in Atwater, California.^{[32][nb 1]}
• 44-6393 Starduster – March Field Air Museum at March Air Reserve Base (formerly March AFB) in Moreno Valley, California.^[33]
• 44-83512 Heaven's Above – Lackland AFB in San Antonio, Texas.^[34]
• 44-83542 Piccadilly Princess – Fantasy of Flight Museum in Polk City, Florida.^[35]
• 44-83559 – Strategic Air and Space Museum in Ashland, Nebraska.^[36]
• 44-83624 Sleepy Time Gal – Air Mobility Command Museum at Dover AFB, Delaware.^[37]
• 44-83663 Short Bier – Hill Aerospace Museum at Hill AFB, Utah.^[38]
• 44-83863 – Air Force Armament Museum at Eglin AFB, Florida.^[39]
• 44-83785 – Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon.^[40][41]
• 44-83884 Miss Liberty – Barksdale Global Power Museum (Formerly Eighth Air Force Museum) at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana.^[42]
• 44-85599 Reluctant Dragon – Dyess Linear Air Park at Dyess AFB in Abilene, Texas.^[43]
• 44-85738 Preston's Pride – AMVETS Chapter 56 (Mefford Field) in Tulare, California.^[44]
• 44-85778 Miss Angela – Palm Springs Air Museum in Palm Springs, California.^[45][46]
• 44-85828 I'll Be Around – Pima Air & Space Museum adjacent to Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson, Arizona.^[47]

Under restoration or in storage

B-17D

• 40-3097 The Swoose – in storage at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio.^[48] and is the oldest known complete B-17 in existence.

B-17E

• 41-2446 Swamp Ghost – for display by the Pacific Aviation Museum on Ford Island in Pearl Harbor.^[49]
• 41-2595 Desert Rat – to airworthiness by Michael W. Kellner in Marengo, Illinois.^[50]
• 41-9210 – in storage at the Flying Heritage Collection in Everett, Washington. Sold immediately after production on the civilian market in 1943 to a Canadian airline. Sold to a Bolivian airline crashed and restored to airworthiness in 1976. Brought back to US in 1990. Purchased in 1999 and now in storage.^[51][52]

B-17F

• 41-24485 Memphis Belle – Under restoration for display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force (NMUSAF) at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio. Previously displayed in a park in Memphis, Tennessee.^[53]

B-17G

B-17 being restored at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum

Tail of B-17 being restored at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum

• 44-83525 Suzy Q – in storage at Fantasy of Flight in Polk City, Florida.^{[54][55][nb 2]}
• 44-83684 Piccadilly Lilly II – to airworthiness by the Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino, California.^[56][57]
• 44-83690 – for display at the Museum of Aviation, Robins Air Force Base, Warner Robins, Georgia. Formerly displayed at Grissom Air Museum, Grissom Air Reserve Base, Kokomo, Indiana.^[58]
• 44-83790 – for display by Don Brooks in Douglas, Georgia. Crash landed on frozen Dyke Lake, Newfoundland on 24 December 1947. Recovered in 2004.^[59]
• 44-83814 City of Savannah – for display at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum in Pooler, Georgia, outside restored, inside to be done.^[60]
• 44-85790 Lacey Lady – to airworthiness by volunteers at the B-17 Alliance, McNary Field in Salem, Oregon.^[61]
• 44-85813 Champaign Lady – to airworthiness by volunteers at the Champaign Aviation Museum, Grimes Field in Urbana, Ohio. Registration is held by Champaign Aviation Museum.^[62][63]

See also

• Accidents and incidents involving the B-17 Flying Fortress
• B-17 Flying Fortress variants
• C-108 Flying Fortress

Notes

1. ↑ Another Virgin's Delight (s/n 42-3352), flying with the 410th Bombardment Squadron was shot down and lost in the North Sea on November 29, 1943.
2. ↑ Another Suzy Q (s/n 41-2489), flying with the 93rd Bombardment Squadron was scrapped sometime after July 1946.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to B-17 warbirds.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to B-17 museum aircraft.

• B-17 News
• Black Jack 124521
• The Swoose
• The Memphis Belle
• Swamp Ghost 12446
• Labrador B-17 44-83790
• Brian's B-17 Survivors List
• Greenland crash list
• B-17 Database (Germany)
• Boeing Tankers page
• B-17 Aerotankers history
• Flyable B-17's
• USCG PB-1G History
• USGC – French Web site
• Hi-res virtual tour of the Collings Foundation's B-17G 'Nine-O-Nine'